This blog is our second blog post in a series of four posts called Bases Loaded: A Technology Grand Slam for SMBs. Click HERE to read the first blog post in the series
Your Monthly Phone Bill
In our last blog post, we discussed the costs of maintaining legacy business phone systems versus upgrading to new technology to improve communications. However, it’s not just phone systems that need to be examined; legacy phone bills need to be viewed, too.
Monthly telephone bills typically include both voice and data services. Utilizing both services can lead to higher phone bills, but we’ve seen some outlandishly high bills for companies we’ve met within our market of the San Francisco Bay area. While there are potentially abundant savings available, many companies are accustomed to the old way of doing things.
Once an organization expects to get the same bill each month, they tend to pay it without thinking twice. As the price creeps up over time, the customer doesn’t notice the incremental increase.
Our team often sees several points of interest that your company should examine on your monthly phone bill. Let’s get started, shall we?
Multiple Bills & Providers
When it comes to monthly services, companies can have one or more carriers; further, each provider may send multiple bills. How does this happen? Because new services are added over time, people are sold on products from different providers, and old services don’t get canceled. With services scattered throughout a myriad of bills, it’s beyond the scope of someone untrained in the art of bill analysis to unravel to confusion. So, many organization just go numb and end up paying for something they are not entirely sure that they want, need, or even know they have.
Solution: The traditional approach is for a telecom cost consultant to go through the stack of telecom bills and make recommendations of how to consolidate bills and carriers, and suggest to disconnect unused services. However, this approach is out of date. Cleaning up old phone bills just means that you have a consolidated “old phone bill.” The underlying services are obsolete, thus cleaning up a traditional phone bill is similar to painting the deck chairs on the Titanic. Rather, the goal should be to eliminate the old legacy telephone bill by replacing those services with modern technologies. The end result is not just savings and simplicity; it’s the way of today.
Eliminate PRI and Analog Lines
On a legacy phone bill, there typically are a combination of analog lines and PRI circuits. These are legacy, traditional public switch telephone services that are well on their way out.
Solution: Eliminate old PRI’s by replacing the existing system with a Virtual PBX or SIP Trunks on a new PBX. Both of these use the Internet to transport calls more efficiently than the old PRI.
Also, eliminate analog circuits by replacing fax lines with an Internet-based equivalent. Out goes the analog line dedicated to the alarm, too. Alarm companies now use the Internet and cell technologies, which is also quite cost efficient. Currently, analog lines cost around $45 each per month and the price is rapidly rising because telephone companies want out of that business. How fast? Well, about three years ago the going price on an analog line was around $25 and we only expect analog line price increases to continue. Forty five bucks doesn’t sound like much, but when you have half a dozen of them, it does add up quickly. So, get rid of them.
Replace Outdated Data Circuits
Generally, the data circuits we see are either DSL, which is notoriously slow, or a T1 connection, which isn’t much better. Some customers have jumped to cable because it’s very inexpensive and much faster, but it often lacks reliability.
Solution: We do away with T1’s and DSL’s and replace them with one of a few choices of newer circuit types.
Your Phone Bill Never Goes Down
Have you noticed that the cost of your monthly phone bill never decreases? Funny how that works, especially considering the price of voice and data circuits continues to decline. Rather, it’s gone up from its original market pricing due to incremental price increases over time. The carriers have this down to a science. So, it’s a double whammy, as your bill hasn’t been adjusted to market pricing.
Faster Internet Speed & Monthly Savings
The good news is that the savings can be dramatic when you migrate to more cost-effective telephone system technologies, priced at going market rates. In almost all instances, we can substantially improve your Internet speed (one to five times faster, or more) while actually saving your company money. No, this isn’t “too good to be true” moment, but rather, a business catching up and using current technology.
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This blog is our second in a series of posts called Bases Loaded: A Technology Grand Slam for small business. We will address four distinct technology challenges that, when addressed together can provide your company a smooth and fast gateway to the future. We’ll present the business case of finding a total solution that encompasses these vital business services:
- Business telephone system
- Monthly phone and data costs
- Voice & data reliability and redundancy
- Creation of a cloud-ready network
Tune in for our next blog in the series:
A Triple: A Technology Grand Slam for SMBs – Improving Voice & Data Reliability.
